[By Janaka Alahapperuma]

The Foreign Secretary of Bangladesh Mr. Md. Shahidul Haque reassured the support of Bangladeshi Government to Sri Lanka at international fora during his current tour in Sri Lanka. The visiting Foreign Secretary made this pledge when he called on President Mahinda Rajapaksa this morning (23 April) at Temple Trees.

“I am very impressed and pleasantly surprised by Sri Lanka’s rebuilding, reconstruction, rehabilitation, resettlement and development targets achieved since the end of the war” said Mr Haque. “We stand by our Sri Lankan brothers on the issue of human rights,” he further stated. During the meeting with the President, Bangladeshi Foreign Secretary Shahidul Haque briefed President Rajapaksa on ongoing collaborations and potential new sectors of cooperation. The High Commissioner of Bangladesh in Colombo, Mohammad Sufiur Raaman, Joint Secretary of Bangladesh’s Ministry of Shipping,  Nasir Arif  Mahmud and Director (South Asia) of the Bangladesh’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Tareq Md. Ariful Islam participated in the discussion. Deputy Minister of Ports and Highways Nirmala Kothalawala, Secretary to the President, Lalith Weeratunga and Secretary to the Ministry of External Affairs, Karunatilake Amunugama also joined the meeting.

It is a timely important visit made by the Bangladeshi delegation because of the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG) is due to meet in London on Friday 26 April to discuss many issues related to the Commonwealth. Bangladesh is also a member of CMAG and will chair the meeting. The other current membership of the group is- Australia, Canada, Jamaica, Maldives, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Trinidad and Tobago and Vanuatu.

Pix by: Sudath Silva